When to Visit - Arts and Events

Washington has a wealth of festivals and commemorative events throughout the year, beginning on the third Monday in January with Martin Luther King Junior's birthday remembrance celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. Other highlights include the Smithsonian Kite Festival and the famous Cherry Blossom Festival in March and the First Lady's 'White House Easter Egg Roll' each Easter Sunday.

In June, the Smithsonian hosts the Festival of American Folk Life whilst Independence Day is celebrated with a parade and a fantastic firework display. September sees the city's DC Blues Festival and New Year is celebrated with a huge outdoor party on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Washington Dining

Washington has a fine selection of restaurants serving a broad spectrum of international cooking styles. The long-standing influence of Italian and French, blended with the more recent 'new American' style, provides diners with the exciting and innovative, as well as more traditional, culinary options. The best areas for the widest choice of restaurants are Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Adams-Morgan and Chinatown.

Washington Tipping Advice

In Washington, as in the rest of the United States service personnel rely on tips to supplement their wages. For waiters, bartenders, taxi drivers or similar, 15 per cent is standard. Washington baggage handlers at hotels and airports should be given one to two USD per bag and a hotel doorman, 50 cents to one US dollar for loading or unloading luggage or other similar service.